ÌÇÐÄÆƽâ°æ

Interestingly, there were over 5.33 million people living in a city with a population between the five to ten million mark in Myanmar in 2020. Despite the Yangon region’s population increasing astronomically from the early 1990s onwards, there remained still over 9.39 million people living in cities with a population size of less than three hundred thousand people, corresponding with Myanmar’s predominantly rural population.

Increasing population

Despite having the biggest land mass of the Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar has a much lower population compared to its neighboring countries. Nonetheless, Myanmar’s population has actually increased and is expected to increase further. Not only is the total population increasing, but in particular the adult population, while the child population has decreased throughout the past decade. (678087). A rise in adult population can be deduced as having a positive impact on the labor force, as more people are available to work. The number of people in the labor force has in fact increased, yet the labor force participation rate has steadily decreased throughout recent years.

Rural background

As Myanmar relies heavily on its agricultural output to stimulate its economy, it is not surprising that the country consists of mostly a rural population. However, this has been decreasing slightly from 2009 onwards. Nevertheless, Myanmar’s rural population heavily outweighs its urban. Yet, with Myanmar’s economy an emerging one there are anticipations that the country will make the transition from an agricultural country to an industrial one. This is teamed with expectations that Myanmar could quadruple its economy by 2030 if the country were to invest in high-technological industries. With an increased focus on industry, there may well be a shift in Myanmar’s population, taking the country from a mostly rural to an urban population.